


Under the Diving Bell

by ForTheLoveOf



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Post-Movie: Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), The Drift (Pacific Rim), in which things might be Complicated™ but they still love each other very much and it kills me, not-quite-angst but definitely not fluff either
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 21:36:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15591222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForTheLoveOf/pseuds/ForTheLoveOf
Summary: "This is a bad idea."Across from him Hermann holds silent, sets up the last few bits of equipment, a portable terminal with wires spilling out from under it like the guts of a Jaeger.





	Under the Diving Bell

"This is a bad idea."

Across from him Hermann holds silent, sets up the last few bits of equipment, a portable terminal with wires spilling out from under it like the guts of a Jaeger.

_It's blue blue blue-_ and that has Hermann frowning at the monitors, coming over, making a show of checking the sensors on either side of Newt's forehead. Never meeting his eyes. Newt lets them rest against the sterile backdrop and catches the gold of a handle hooked over the console, cane seemingly left behind in the process.

"You got it bad, my dude" and maybe the thin smile is more like him than he remembers because Hermann's hands still on his temples and Newton doesn't need the ghost drift to know they're trembling when he draws them back from his face altogether.

"Hold still, please" comes a moment later and Newt offers a snort at that, _tugs_ on the restraints in response. It's easy, finding something to bite back with like always, something canine and _fanged_ and with just enough of himself in it to sink into Hermann's own guts and _twist_ there-

A hand lingers over the electrodes on his chest and he forgets. It _presses_ there, and Newt remembers.

"Newton. Stay with me."

It's barely a whisper this time, the breath of it hitting his breastbone. He wonders if the mics manage to pick it up after all, idle and following the way Hermann crosses the room, each step uneven, hands gripping his cane once they reach it tight like a lifeline.

"I trust you" he says then and he doesn't quite know why, except he worries he might. He counts three Mississippies before Hermann clears his throat from where he'd stood frozen- ramrod spine, missing breath. His eyes never reach him. Instead they make for the matching Pons headset, and his hands follow.

"Experimental drift with Dr Newton Geiszler, attempt one." Straps stretch and snap into place from across the room. Newt shuts his eyes. Lets the words float around him. " _Vital signs stable and within normal limits. Atypical brain activity noted. Neural interface re-calibrated and ready. Estimated risk.._ " He pictures Hermann stealing a glance at him when he falters "..minimal." It settles somewhere in the back of his throat, straining.

He keeps his eyes closed. " _Initiating neural handshake in: three, two-_ " he can feel the low hum of the Pons now, anticipation thrumming from his toes to his fingertips, _burning_. _One_ comes from far away and then the _rush_ knocks the wind out of him like a tidal wave, pulling him under.

_I trust you I trust you I trust you_ and his hands twist around gilded grooves as he takes a breath, dives.

**Author's Note:**

> (In this lab we don't say "it's going to be ok" instead we say "the estimated risk is minimal" & I think that's beautiful)


End file.
